ROUND HILL, WITH $1.1BN MUSIC PORTFOLIO, STRIKES FLURRY OF CATALOG ACQUISITIONS

Round Hill Music has acquired several catalogs.

The collection of acquisitions encompasses the publishing catalogs of songwriters Terry Shaddick, Linus Eklow and Carmine Appice, as well as publishing assets of the band Dirty Heads and a selection of Al Stewart’s master rights.

The catalogs include hit songs I Love It by Icona Pop (feat Charli XCX), Physical by Olivia Newton John, Kiss Me More by Doja Cat (feat SZA), Do You Think I’m Sexy by Rod Stewart and Vacation by Dirty Heads, among many others.

The combined value of the transactions is believed to be upwards of $25 million.

Round Hill said on Thursday (May 29) that these transactions bring its total catalog value under management back to over USD $1 billion ($1.1bn), following the $468.8 million sale of its London Stock Exchange-listed fund to Concord in 2023. Round Hill continues to manage five private funds following the sale of the UK-listed fund.

Today’s news follows the company’s recent announcement of Katie Kowinski’s appointment as Chief of Investor Relations & Business Development, Jeff Bunder as Global CFO, and James King as Chief of Capital Markets.

Linus Eklöw co-wrote and produced Icona Pop’s international mega hit I Love It, alongside Patrik Berger and Charli XCX. I Love It features vocals from Charlie XCX and was the song that helped launch her career in 2012, now boasting over a billion streams on Spotify.

Round Hill Music’s acquisition includes Linus Eklöw’s full catalog of songs, including dance hits Runaway (U & I) and No Money by electronic Swedish duo Galantis, which also have a billion streams each.

Terry Shaddick is best known for co-writing Olivia Newton-John’s 1980 hit Physical, which reached No.1 in six countries. Round Hill Music has acquired Shaddick’s half of this song, including administrative control of the copyright, as well as Shaddick’s share of Doja Cat’s 2021 chart-topping hit Kiss Me More (which has accumulated over 2 billion streams on Spotify) and Benson Boone’s latest single Mystical Magical.

Carmine Appice started out as the drummer for Vanilla Fudge in the 1960’s and later would go on to playing drums in Rod Stewart’s backing band, co-writing songs such as Do Ya Think I’m Sexy and Young Turks with Rod Stewart.

Dirty Heads, meanwhile, are a reggae rock band from Southern California formed in 2002 that have released eight studio albums. Dirty Heads tour frequently and are often associated with bands like Slightly Stupid, Sublime and 311.

Round Hill noted that their song Vacation has “racked up hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify and billions of views on TikTok”. The deal includes publishing and artist royalties.

Al Stewart is a Scottish-born singer-songwriter whose signature hit from 1976, Year of the Cat is described by Round Hill as “a yacht rock staple”.

Josh Gruss, CEO, Round Hill Music, said: “From timeless pop hits to reggae rock, yacht rock and electronic music, these catalogs contain songs with proven commercial success.

“Spanning different genres and eras, these songs have huge potential for further monetization across streaming, film, advertising and much more. There’s no better proof of this than Benson Boone’s latest single ‘Mystical Magical’, which reimagines Olivia Newton-John’s iconic 1981 hit Physical in its chorus.

“Tracks like Physical go to the very heart of Round Hill’s strategy – finding and celebrating songs which can continue to resonate with new generations long after their original release.”

Round Hill Music says that its portfolio features 200,000 copyrights under management, including songs performed by artists such as George Harrison, Elvis Presley, Bruno Mars, Chaka Khan, Morgan Wallen, Goo Goo Dolls, Bryan Adams, Matchbox Twenty, The Killers, Meat Loaf, Madonna and many more.Music Business Worldwide